Bangkok: Doorae at Korean Town (revisited)

Hello world. This is embarrassing. I just realised that I haven't blogged for a month now. And I actually miss saying "Happy New Year" to all of you. I'm still alive and still eating. So wish everyone a good year anyway!

I haven't had Korean food for a while now so I arranged a lunch with friends at Korean town. We used to want to try all restaurants but now we felt like we couldn't be bothered anymore so I stick with Doorae, our forever fave Korean restaurant in Thailand.

The way to start a Korean meal is to eat all the assortment of Kimchi side dishes!

choices are massive here and it's free (or already include in the dish's price)

my fave side dish - raw papaya kimchi. So yummy

A ordered the marinated pork, just like the last time we ate there (previous blog post). It was still good.

Gamja-Tang

Sundobu Jigae

I was seriously craving Sundobu jigae (Soft tofu stew) and A was craving Gamja-Tang (braised short ribs and potato stew) so we ordered both. How greedy were we! Both were good; hot and very tasty. I love Korean stew dish. It looks spicy but it wasn't too bad. It kinda made the meal complete of hearty food. I would highly recommend if you don't like the tangy taste of kimchi jigae then sundobu jigae will be great option for you. Plus, it's tofu - that's good for your health!
Gamja-Tang was also good but I would prefer sundobu jigae over it - hehe.

A was as his usual, he ordered Nakji Bokkeum or stir-fried octopus while I was talking on the phone. So when the dish came I was like I so knew who orderd this! It was as good as usual.

Before J came to join us, we decided to order Tteokbokki (Rice cake in spicy sauce) just in case she missed her time in Korea last year. It was okay but if you are on no-carb diet, you shouldn't order it since that's rice cake for you.

This is definitely a fulfilled authentic Korean meal. I can only eat Korean food here in Korean town coz I feel like the other Korean restaurants in shopping malls are not authentic and the taste isn't as good as the authentic one. I'd rather drive to the city centre of Bangkok, where traffic jammed than eating non authentic tasteless food.


Doo Rae
1/F, Sukhumvit Plaza,
Sukhumvit Soi 12
Tel 02 653 3815
BTS: Asok


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Bangkok: Jangwon at Korean Town

As MK visited Bangkok last week, we arranged a bloggers' lunch date between me, MK and Tee. However, due to ouor conflicted schedule, we couldn't really meet up at the same time so I went up to meet MK on my own two weeks ago at Korean town since she wanted to explore Korean town in Bangkok. After looking at menus and browsing around, we ended up eating at "Jangwon".

A nice Korean meal won't be complete if there is no side dish! I love side dishes at Korean restaurants here coz choices are vary, it's refillable and it's free *YAY* We decided to not go for the BBQ stuff coz we have a long way to go and we did not want to smell like BBQ all day.

From the look of what we ordered, I'm sure we must have overdone it as this is too much for 2 persons but we need food so - haha.

Bibimbab came with stone bowl, actually you can choose whether you want ordinary bowl or stone bowl. We can add the sauce as much as we like. It was nice since it fits our taste.

Jab chae or stir fry glass noodle was very garlicky and I like it. MK said it wasn't that authentic especially with what they put in, making me want to try it when I go to Korea.

Kimchi Shige was so so. I must admit that I like the one at Doorae more. Maybe it's the taste of kimchi that is my problem.

Pajeon was okay. I like the leeks in it (which usually I hate as it gives me the onion taste - HORROR). Too bad that we were quite stuffed so I didn't really appreciating this dish much.

I think I have to admit that I'm actually preferred "Doorae" more. It's not bad for Jangwon but I like Doorae's food more. It was a nice meal anyway as I have a good company as MK :)

Jangwon

Sukhumvit Plaza, Sukhumvit 12

Bangkok

BTS: Asok

Bangkok: Doorae at Korean Town

Happy Thai New Year, everyone! I'm in the middle of 5 days holiday. Nothing much happened though since most shops and small restaurants close and everyone either has gone back to their hometowns or splashing water around to celebrate the Songkran holiday. (For more info on water and Thai New Year, please click here)

Last week, before the holiday started, I was craving Korean food so bad that I tried calling everyone to join me. In the end, only P and A able to join me. We went to Korean town at Sukhimvit 12 for super authentic Korean food. The thing about us when we went to Korean town is that we always said we want to try new restaurant as there are so many of them there. However, we always ended up eating at "Doo Rae" everytime. Of course, that day wasn't an exception - we ended up at Doo Rae.

You gotta love Korean food for serving unlimited side-dishes. I love Kimchi, all sort of it so I was very happy with this!

We ordered some basic stuffs; beef bulgogi and marinated pork. We asked them to grill for us coz we couldn't really bother with that. It was good, I mean there's nothing to complain about grilled meat right?

A wanted stir fry squids with Korean Chili paste. It looked fiercely but it wasn't that spicy for this one. You can enjoy it with rice without any problem.

I suggested we should step outside the box (at least order something new though we didn't change restaurant), instead of kimchi shige, we went for soon dobu shige which I think is soft tofu hot soup. It was very good actually. Not bland and very much enjoyable when it was hot.

It was such a good meal although the price is a bit high. I would say you should come with lots of friends or families so you will get to enjoy the variety of dishes and in cheaper price!

Doo Rae
1/F, Sukhumvit Plaza,
Sukhumvit Soi 12
Tel 02 653 3815
BTS: Asok


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Bangkok: Minibar Royale

I tried to arrange a luncheon/dinner with my NGO friends for quite some time now. Unfortunately, they were all over the place and always busy. I proposed to a meeting at Minibar Royale after reading T's entry here. It seems like a good chilled-out place with long list of drinks to order. More unfortunate events coming, D2 and RW couldn't come and on the other hand, I think I may caught Influenza 2009. D1 asked if we should cancel, I said no. Nothing should stop me from consuming food and drinking my alcohols. Anyhow, just to be safe, I took medicines hard-core hoping I would get better by the end of the week (which I did).

Champagne au Fraise (left) and Minibar Royale (right)

We arrived at the restaurant around 11.30 am and it was almost full. Seems like it is the place to be for hipsters who crave proper sunday brunch. The atmosphere, for me, was like a cafe in Paris while, for D1, she deems it is like a pub in England. Either way, it was relaxing. We were hesitated on what to order for a bit although their food list isn't that long. We decided to order Lobster Bisque, Spicy Calamari Salad and Sheperd's Pie. Drink wise, we opted for their recommendation of Minibar Royale and Champagne au Fraise.


The lobster bisque was very-lobster bisque. That could be the worst explaination ever but to me it is really Lobster Bisque. Not every restaurant can pull the taste of prawn/lobster out like this. D1 was very pleased. She's an avid fan of Lobster Bisque and said it is better than Greyhound's.


The Spicy calamari sald was fantastic. The salad looked bland as you barely noticed the dressing but it tasted just right. I think it is vinigrette. Not too soggy. Very good. Now talking about calamari, they deep-fried it with some chilli and salt. Great combination if you ask me.


The Sheperd's Pie is on heavy-side. It was so so. Nothing to complain or praise about.


After that we were a bit full but wanting to have some dessert. After negotiation, we agreed on Molten cake with vanilla ice cream and seasonal fruits. The molten cake was nice and went so well with the ice cream. If only we weren't so full, we would have finished that! Anyhow, the banana was too ripped and D1 just hated that.


The last round of drink, I decided to take on Lychee Martini and D1 went for Cosmopolitan. She said it is great. Tasted much better than the one she had at Aqua in Four Season. My Lychee Martini was a little bit too sweet although it did give me a big kick after drinking it.

The bill came on expensive side but was already expected. I think this would be another choice for me to come for chill-out and drink. Probably will try Brunch meal next time.


Minibar Royale
Citadine Hotel
Sukhum 23, Bangkok
Open 10.30 - midnight
website: http://www.minibarroyale.com


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Bangkok: Los Cabos

I had a girl's evening out with the D sisters and S yesterday. You can called it as NGO people meeting since all of us are working in development field for 4 different organisations. I knew the D sisters coz we used to work in the same organisation and S is one of my close friends from uni. Long story short, I brought them to meet up and we were all friends.

We arranged a meeting at Mexican restaurant called "Los Cabos" in Soi Sukhumvit 14.

The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seats. It was very spacious inside with colourful decoration. The food here is claimed to be Californian Mexican which to be honest I don't know the difference from original Mexican.


We got there around 5 pm and their Happy Hour was still going, so some of us ordered drinks from the happy hour drink list above.


From left to right: D2's Frozen Lime Magarita (Baht95), D1's Frozen Mango Magarita (Baht145) and my Pomegranate Mojito (Baht110), both not in Happy Hour list.

I was having the best night coz, whatever I ordered, they turned out to be the best ever. The pomegranate mojito was super yummy; not too sweet and sour with generous amount of rum. It was very refreshing and everyone seemed to like it too. D2's Lime Magarita was as good as general Magarita but D1's Mango Magarita was a bit disappointing. It was very bland, not enough taste of alcohol or mango. We think perhaps it was because it was blending with ice so the taste has gone with the ice.

S wasn't arrived yet so we ordered some starters to share while waiting for her.


Chicken Quesadilla (Baht175) was very nice. The salsa was also very good. However if you seek some spiciness, you might have to ask for their special sauce to go with.


The Chicken Nachos (half portion - Baht175) was a bit disappointing though. It was too dry and you would feel like there isn't enough sauce, whether it's salsa, sour cream or others. It was a bit too bland for our liking, esp. with D sisters since they love spicy stuffs!


S arrived just in time for the food and my second drink. I ordered Blue Marlin Magarita (Baht145) and it was the best magarita I have ever tried! I sorta have a thing for blue cocktails but after my incident in Hyderabad (blue cocktail at bar in Novotel hotel which tasted like alcohol detergent), I usually avoid any blue-coloured food/drinks to save myself from horror. But this drink has got to be the best!


S ordered Grilled California Chicken Salad (Baht250) which came in generous portion. The vinaigrette was amazingly light and went so well withe vegetable. I especially love the tiny tomatoes and avocado they put in. So good!


D1 ordered half rack of BBQ Pork Ribs (Baht325) to share. The meat was juicy and the sauce was really good. If we weren't too full, we could have ordered full rack to eat coz it was very very very good!


I ordered Chicken Fajitas (Baht395) which came in sizzling hot plate with other condiments and flour tortillas. I have to admit that I really like the chicken and cooked onions in this dish. It is the first time I really enjoy onions (But still I would rather live without onions).


As the drinks have dried out, we decided to order Frozen Blue Marlin Magarita in pitcher (Baht480) to share. I have to admit this restaurant is very generous with the alcohol they put in all their drinks. I really enjoy all the drinks very much.

We had a really relaxing time at Los Cabos with all the good food and drinks. I would definitely make a visit again in the future since the price isn't bad as well.

Los Cabos
Sukhumvit 14 (สุขุมวิท14)
Bangkok
website: http://www.loscabosbangkok.com/
BTS and MRT: Asok


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